More show notes at https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-322/

Today’s episode features strength and track coach, John Garrish.  John is the director of athletic development at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida, and the school’s head track coach.  John was recently voted the 2022 National High School Strength Coach of the Year by the National High School Strength Coach’s Association.  John appeared previously on the show discussing his speed training approach in episode 182.

The symbiosis of track and football is often discussed in the process of training, and importantly so.  What is talked about less, are some of the specifics of what track has to offer, not just in the sprints, but also in events like triple jump, that can enhance an athletes speed, power, elasticity and overall movement profile, in their other sports.

John was a hammer thrower in his college years, as well as a former football player.  The hammer throw is, of all the throws, the one that requires the greatest symbiosis and harmony with the implement.  The triple jump (bounding) requires a tremendous symbiosis with the ground, and how one interacts with it.  You can easily see John’s experience and intuition of track and S&C concepts emerge in his progression of bound, skip, hop and overall elastic training with his athletes.

On the show today, John covers thoughts on hand position and “elastic/rigidity” vs. “muscular” sprint strategies in athletes as they move from youth to high-school levels.  This sets the stage for his talk on his galloping, skipping and bounding progressions, and how he keeps movement quality and velocity at the core of the progression.  John talks about how he keeps the training fun and intentional, and how he changes emphasis as athletes move from middle school, to high school years.  This show is a beautiful fusion of team sport S&C, and track and field concepts, and can be used to help any athlete develop more fluid, dynamic power outputs on the field of play.

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